Starting a Documentation Group: A Hands-On Guide [Paperback]

Peter J. Hartman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

Starting a Documentation Group is the only book devoted to getting a new group up and running in a small company. Drawing on the author's 20 years of experience in starting, rebuilding, and managing documentation groupsas well as input from many of his peersthis book provides a detailed collection of techniques, processes, and guidelines to help you quickly set up an efficient and professional documentation operation.

In addition, the appendixes include a description of the product development process, sample templates and job descriptions, and questions to ask during the hiring process.

Although Starting a Documentation Group was designed and written with new group leaders in mind, it is also full of relevant and useful information for veterans.

Focusing on the needs of small companies, Starting a Documentation Group provides information on:

How the experience of a start-up/small group is different from that of a large group/company The role of the documentation manager

Setting up your environment

How to develop a comprehensive, forward-looking documentation planand sell it to management

Determining a realistic schedule (or, at least, how to live with the time available) Planning for editing, production, and printing

Determining when extra help is needed and hiring accordingly

Editorial Reviews

Review

Hartman provides excellent advice to freshly-minted publications managers. He provides a good balance between the practical and the political, with pointers on improving your abilities at each. Hartman's book is a welcome addition to the growing field of publications management. He has touched on all the main points and provided a good mix of practical experience from his own career. This book is a must-read for any senior writer contemplating the next step in their career. -- Garret H. Romaine, Publications Manager, Tektronix, Inc

New publications managers are in great need of good advice and direction. Peter Hartman provides new managers with that sound advice and direction in an easy-to-read presentation. I recommend this guide as a very useful publication and a good starting point for developing a new organization. -- Dr. JoAnn T. Hackos, President, Comtech Services, Inc.

This book contains the most complete, concise, most exhaustively road-tested wisdom available anywhere on how to start a documentation department. Hartman covers every challenge you will face, every issue you don't yet realize you're in for. Everything is here: working with management, justifying additional hires, finding talent, choosing your writing tools, designing your documents, researching and writing, and getting your documents published on time and within budget. Whatever the issue is, Hartman has been there, done that, and written about it in a way that sets you straight, saves you grief, and makes you laugh. If you're starting a doc group, you need this book. -- Elizabeth Michaud, Senior Technical Writer, Authoria, Inc.

With useful information on virtually every topic the new documentation manager will encounter - from templates and style guides to the hiring process to management issues - Peter Hartman has crafted a documentation manager's encyclopedia. His style makes for an easy and inviting read; it took me no time to breeze through it. If you're starting a documentation group, this is the book to read. -- Robert Holling, Documentation and Training Manager, pcOrder.com, Inc.

About the Author

Peter Hartman has over 25 years of experience developing documentation and managing documentation, trainmg, quality assurance, and marketing communications groups. He has specialized ln starting or rebuilding groups for start-ups and other small companies, and his ability to understand the nuts and bolts of corporate life has driven him to remain a truly hands-on manager. He has also gained significant experience in development process re-engineering and user interface design while working for such companies as Data General, Atex, Imaging Technology, Pilot Software, Easel Corporation, PTP Software, Implicit Software, and Riverton Software.

As a hands-on Information Design and Development Professional and manager, Peter has written over 80 manuals, and revised or edited countless others. In addition, he has published articles in various journals, including Computer Graphics World and DE magazine. In 1991, he published Junior Citizens: An Owners Manual, a humorous parody of both technical manuals and child-care books. He is a member of the Society for Technical Communication, and has presented on various topics at the annual InterChange conference sponsored by the Boston chapter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 205 pages
• Publisher: Clear Point Consultants Press (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967417902
• ISBN-13: 978-0967417905
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Resource, Especially for Small Groups, April 16, 2001

By 

A reader in Southborough (Southborough, MA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Starting a Documentation Group: A Hands-On Guide (Paperback)

When I asked a colleague if he would recommend this book, he said, "Well, there's a lot in there you already know." He's right. After 13 years as a tech writer, there's a lot I already know, but there's also a lot I might have forgotten. Hartman's readable book is a gentle reminder, among other things, of processes we may have forgotten, and of the big picture of writing documentation.

Another reason I found it useful was that it is tailored to small and startup organizations. In small companies, processes are trimmed and schedules are more compressed. If you've worked in large companies during your career and are thinking of joining a smaller company, Hartman's book tells you what to expect.

Hartman's suggestions on how to start, schedule, and staff projects may seem obvious to someone who's done it for years, but I found it interesting to see how someone else did it. My manager, who has not managed a doc group before, also read this book so she could see what the processes are in a well-run doc group. She's also going to try his suggestions for setting up a doc project in Microsoft Project: she and I have spent quite a few days trying to get it right, and we're hoping his suggestions help.

My only disagreement with him is in his statement where documentation groups belong in the organizational structure. Hartman is firm in his suggestion that documentation groups belong under Engineering. He overlooks reporting to Support, which can work extremely well. Nor does he mention that some Engineering groups treat doc personnel as second class citizens because they are not as technical as the Engineers. In extreme cases, they're treated as little more than technical typists; at best, they are not given the respect, authority, and freedom to act that they need to be true user advocates.

All in all, Hartman appears to follow widely accepted rules of good practice and presents his ideas in readable, enjoyable form.

I think it's a great resource for new managers or those who find doc managers in their reporting structure. As I said, it's also very valuable for people who worked in large organizations and are now working for smaller ones. Managers of organizations that are downsizing or spinning off smaller companies might also find it useful.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must for a New Technical Writer's Bookshelf, February 1, 2001

By 

Carol B. McElhaney (Cranberry Township, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starting a Documentation Group: A Hands-On Guide (Paperback)

I bought this book with an Amazon Christmas gift certificate from my supervisor. It was one of the wisest investments of my career! Hartman takes you through every step to develop a successful technical writing group.

You are taken through the development process and project planning; the tasks of naming your group and getting necessary resources. You learn how to hire new employees, develop a style guide, write functional specs, and an information plan. The product development process is outlined with a summary and definition of the stages involved and the deliverables required at each stage.

Project planning is covered quite well, but I would advise purchasing "Managing Your Documentation Project" (JoAnn Hackos), "Developing Quality Technical Information" (Gretchen Hargis), and "One Minute Designer" (Roger C. Parker). This combination is like having an entire technical writing curriculum at your fingertips.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great starting point, July 20, 2005

By 

Kendra Jones "software consultant" (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Starting a Documentation Group: A Hands-On Guide (Paperback)

This book is a great companion to Managing Your Documentation Projects by Dr. Hackos. It describes a concise, straightforward approach for publications managers or technical writers interested in advancing their skills or taking their department in a more focused direction. And, it provides a clear blueprint for how to position the publications group in the software development lifecycle. I highly recommend this book.